Changes to Child Support Withholding Forms

A commonly overlooked federal requirement took effect on May 31, 2012, that invalidated any other versions of the Income Withholding Form for Child Support (IWO) other than the most recent federal form. Employers, including local governments, are only allowed to accept the new federal IWO.

Notably, those versions of child support withholding forms created for use (and still being used) by state governments and local courts are no longer valid.

The federal procedure requires employers to “reject the document” and return it to its sender if any form submitted is not the proper IWO form. There are additional requirements, as well, regarding how to proceed if the IWO does not direct the payments to the State Disbursement Unit.

The new IWO form is linked to the full version of this article, as well as a synopsis from the Office of Child Support Enforcement regarding how to handle older versions of the form.